Some in migrant caravan seek jobs on Mexican side of border

Updated
2:36 pm EST, Tuesday, February 12, 2019

Six-year-old Daniela Fernanda Portillo Burgos sits on the shoulders of her mother, Iris Jamilet, 39, as they look out through the fence of a immigrant shelter in Piedras Negras, Mexico, Tuesday, Feb. 5, 2019. A caravan of about 1,600 Central American migrants camped Tuesday in the Mexican border city of Piedras Negras, just west of Eagle Pass, Texas. The governor of the northern state of Coahuila described the migrants as "asylum seekers," suggesting all had express intentions of surrendering to U.S. authorities. (Jerry Lara/The San Antonio Express-News via AP) less

Six-year-old Daniela Fernanda Portillo Burgos sits on the shoulders of her mother, Iris Jamilet, 39, as they look out through the fence of a immigrant shelter in Piedras Negras, Mexico, Tuesday, Feb. 5, 2019. A ... more

Photo: Jerry Lara, AP

Photo: Jerry Lara, AP

Image
1of/1

Caption

Close

Image 1 of 1

Six-year-old Daniela Fernanda Portillo Burgos sits on the shoulders of her mother, Iris Jamilet, 39, as they look out through the fence of a immigrant shelter in Piedras Negras, Mexico, Tuesday, Feb. 5, 2019. A caravan of about 1,600 Central American migrants camped Tuesday in the Mexican border city of Piedras Negras, just west of Eagle Pass, Texas. The governor of the northern state of Coahuila described the migrants as "asylum seekers," suggesting all had express intentions of surrendering to U.S. authorities. (Jerry Lara/The San Antonio Express-News via AP) less

Six-year-old Daniela Fernanda Portillo Burgos sits on the shoulders of her mother, Iris Jamilet, 39, as they look out through the fence of a immigrant shelter in Piedras Negras, Mexico, Tuesday, Feb. 5, 2019. A ... more

Photo: Jerry Lara, AP

Some in migrant caravan seek jobs on Mexican side of border

1 / 1

Back to Gallery

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Coahuila state authorities say about 70 of the 1,676 Central American migrants confined to an improvised shelter in the Mexican border city of Piedras Negras have applied for jobs in Mexico.

Most migrants are only allowed to leave the shelter under police escort to visit a store. About a dozen per day are allowed out to file asylum claims at the U.S. border town of Eagle Pass.

The migrants can't leave because they didn't have Mexican humanitarian transit visas. About 1,000 of the migrants have applied for the visas. Only about 400 have been approved so far.

Authorities said Monday 22 minors have been taken to other shelters, and 58 migrants have asked to return to their home countries. A police force guards the shelter at an unused factory complex.